Chapter 21
Nico met Bianca when he was twelve.
His choice.
Vittorio said no first.
Then stopped.
Nico stared.
“You said someday.”
“I know.”
“This someday.”
Maybe.
The meeting took place in Daniel Price’s office.
Not the foundation.
Not the townhouse.
No Owen.
Forty minutes.
Nico’s therapist nearby.
Vittorio in the next room.
Bianca entered first.
She looked older.
Nico had seen recent photographs.
Still, photographs did not show how cautiously someone moved when they knew every step could be the wrong one.
Nico wheeled into the room.
Bianca stood.
Then immediately sat.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
Silence.
Nico looked at her hands.
Not her face.
“Did you pull me out chair?”
Bianca swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I wanted you away from me.”
“That doesn’t need pulling.”
“No.”
She tried again.
“I was angry.”
Nico waited.
“I wanted to punish you for embarrassing me.”
“You were adult.”
“Yes.”
“I was three.”
“Yes.”
“Then how I embarrass?”
Bianca looked down.
“You gave me a handmade gift in front of people.”
Nico frowned.
“That nice.”
“Yes.”
“I thought it looked childish.”
He stared.
“It was.”
That answer broke something open.
Bianca nodded.
“You were three.”
Nico continued.
“You broke it because bad?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“Because I wanted to reject what it represented.”
“Mommy.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then Nico asked:
“Did you know shoulder hurt?”
“I knew I grabbed you too hard.”
“After?”
“Yes.”
“Did you stop?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Bianca’s eyes filled.
“Because I was still more focused on being angry than on what I had done to you.”
Nico looked toward the door.
Not leaving.
Just checking.
Then:
“Are you sorry?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want me forgive?”
Bianca took time.
“Yes.”
Bad answer.
Honest.
Nico noticed.
Bianca corrected nothing.
Good.
Then:
“But wanting that does not mean you owe it to me.”
Better.
Nico thought.
“I believe sorry.”
Bianca’s face changed.
Nico continued.
“I don’t trust.”
She nodded.
“I understand.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You know words.”
Another pause.
“I’m the one who has to do trust.”
Bianca closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Exactly.
The meeting ended after thirty-three minutes.
No hug.
Bianca asked no question about another meeting.
Outside, Vittorio wheeled toward Nico automatically.
Nico stopped him.
“I can.”
Right.
He pushed himself toward the elevator.
In the car:
“How was it?”
“Hard.”
Vittorio waited.
“Still okay I did.”
Both.
That mattered.
Three months later Nico asked to meet Bianca again.
Then canceled the morning of the appointment.
Bianca accepted.
Another meeting happened six months later.
No one called the relationship repaired.
May you like
Repair did not mean pretending nothing had broken.
The airplane had taught them that already.
